The Supreme Court of India has transferred a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the safety and longevity of bridges in Bihar to the Patna High Court. The court expressed concern over the state government's handling of bridge collapses, noting that officials were suspended after incidents but reinstated after the public outcry subsided. The court also criticized the state's voluminous response to the PIL, which lacked explanations for the collapses. The Patna High Court will now monitor the state's efforts to ensure structural and safety audits of bridges in Bihar.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday permitted banks to increase charges on ATM cash withdrawals beyond the mandatory free monthly usage by Rs 2 to Rs 23 per transaction from May 1.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced that the state's Assembly resolution seeking NEET exemption, which was sent for Presidential assent, has been declined by the Centre. Stalin termed the rejection as a "dark chapter in federalism" and accused the Centre of disregarding the will of the Tamil Nadu people. He also announced an all-political party meeting on April 9 to discuss the issue further.
Among urban users, 57 per cent mentioned a preference for accessing Internet content in vernacular languages.
Private consumption is back driven by festive spending, and the medium-term economic outlook remains bullish as the innate strength of the macro-fundamentals reasserts itself, the Reserve Bank Bulletin said on Wednesday. Global economic activity remained resilient during Q4:2024 amidst fragile confidence and rising protectionism, said an article on 'State of the Economy' published in the November Bulletin.
They saluted 'the hands that weave timeless stories'.
The pound 29,350 billion Vodafone, the largest company in terms of revenue in the mobile space, is planning to move in a big way in rural areas of emerging markets such as India.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is set to elect its next general secretary, with speculation rife over who will lead the party. Leading contenders include M A Baby, backed by the party's Kerala unit, and Ashok Dhawale, who enjoys support from the West Bengal lobby. Other potential candidates include Mohammed Salim, B V Raghavulu, and Brinda Karat. The election will take place at the 24th CPI(M) congress in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Retail inflation dipped marginally to a nearly six-year low of 3.34 per cent in March due to a decline in prices of vegetables and protein-rich items. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was 3.61 per cent in February and 4.85 per cent in March last year.
Google uses solar panel and wind to power electronic equipment in the balloon throughout the day.
Currently, deposits of up to Rs 5 lakh are covered under the deposit-insurance scheme.
'India has the maths talent, academic institutions, and research institutions to do the next big thing.'
Donald Trump is catering to the basest fears and prejudice of unenlightened Americans -- yes, there are those too, in sizeable enough numbers to elect one of their own as president. That would most certainly not Make America Great Again, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
Urban employment rate increased to 34.96 per cent in February. This is the highest employment rate recorded in urban India since September 2020.
As the co-founder of Comat Technologies, leading provider of e-governance solutions, Sriram Raghavan initiated the concept of rural business process outsourcing units and rural business centres.
According to the 66th round of National Sample Survey carried out between July 2009 and June 2010, all India average monthly per capita consumer expenditure in rural areas was Rs 1,054 and urban areas Rs 1,984.
The project also aims to address critical gaps in rural sports infrastructure, particularly at the block level, where facilities remain underdeveloped.
The State Bank of India (SBI), in its research, has estimated GDP growth during the current financial year (2024-25) to be 6.3 per cent, assuming that the NSO does not make major revisions to the erstwhile first and second quarter estimates.
While companies have not launched too many products in rural areas of late, easy financing has helped push up demand.
More than 50 per cent of SIP accounts come from semi-urban and rural areas.
'This was earlier driven by industries and the commercial sector.'
RBI to issue discussion paper on new licence conditions this week.
State Bank of India (SBI), in a report on Friday, claimed a significant decline in the headline poverty ratio in rural areas on account of enhanced physical infrastructure, higher consumption growth in the bottom fractile and direct benefit transfers (DBTs).
According to the TeamLease Services April-September FY'14 Employment Outlook Report, there is a 4 per cent rise in the employment outlook index to 79 when compared to the previous half year (October 2012 to March 2013), when it stood at 75.
The 24th CPI(M) Party Congress commenced in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, with interim coordinator Prakash Karat emphasizing the need for Left unity to combat "Hindutva neo-fascism." He criticized the BJP-RSS government, accusing it of representing a "Hindutva-corporate nexus" and displaying "neo-fascist characteristics." Other Left leaders, including CPI general secretary D Raja and CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, echoed calls for unity and condemned the current political climate in India.
'If you can simplify the technology, you don't need a doctor or a highly qualified technician to work on the technology; even an Asha health worker or a similar front line health worker can use it with minimal training.'
Feeble demand in rural areas of the country has affected sales of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in September as compared to August, which saw heavy stocking ahead of the festival season, according to the data of Bizom, a retail intelligence platform. Sales in rural India fell 14.3 per cent while urban sales growth stood at 1.1 per cent in September as compared to the previous month. Overall FMCG sales fell by 9.6 per cent in September as compared to August.
In spite of Budget's rural focus, the government has consistently stumbled in agriculture, says Shreekant Sambrani.
Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies has been picked as India's official entry for Oscars 2025.
The total vehicle retail sales in India witnessed a 32 per cent on-year rise in October to 28,32,944 units with all segments including two-wheelers and passenger vehicles registering strong growth, Federation of Automobile Dealers' Association (FADA) said on Wednesday. The total vehicle retail sales in October 2023 stood at 21,43,929 units, as per FADA. The strong growth in October this year was largely driven by the rural market, especially boosting two-wheeler and passenger vehicles sales, supported by increased Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Rabi crops, FADA said.
The risk-reward for the Indian markets, Morgan Stanley said, is turning favourable.
The United Kingdom extracted USD 64.82 trillion from India over a century of colonialism between 1765 and 1900 and USD 33.8 trillion of this went to the richest 10 per cent -- enough money to carpet London in notes of 50 British pound almost four times over.
Could the MPCE survey results be used as a basis of reconstructing the Consumer Price Index with new weights, asks Madan Sabnavis.
The number of people averse to the surveys by the National Statistical Office (NSO) has more than doubled over the last five years between the 75th National Sample Survey (NSS) round (July 2017- June 2018) and the 79th NSS round (July 2022-June 2023), the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation MoSPI) said on Friday in a conference organised to discuss the issue of 'non- responsiveness' to its sample surveys. The ministry said that nearly 6.9 per cent people in urban areas surveyed by the NSO for the 79th NSS round did not participate in the exercise, while the number of people in rural India that refused to participate in these surveys stood at 3.9 per cent.
Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) had a disappointing third quarter (Q3FY25) with flat volumes (after 7 per cent growth H1FY25). Price hikes will be required to maintain margins to offset the cost of palm oil inflation. However, some analysts see Q3 as an exception with strong volume growth expected to resume and it may be the fastest growing FMCG player in FY26.
'The intensity and frequency of heatwaves will be much higher than in previous years over Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.'
The meltdown in Dalal Street that wiped out investor wealth to the tune of 44 trillion in 2025 also seems to be having a ripple effect on the country's vibrant automobile retail sales.
The co-operative banking sector is well regulated, and a few cases of restrictions being imposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should not paint a negative picture of the entire sector, said Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) secretary Ajay Seth on Monday. "Co-operative banks in the country are generally quite robust, and the RBI takes regulatory action whenever issues arise.
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